Phoenix Rising: The Covenant (Phoenix Rising Infinitology Book 1)

by Angela Timms

  They don’t open the bars without stunning you first. There’s no point hiding as the stunners have an area effect.”

  Kel was watching her intently. A cloud had passed from over the fading sun so he could see more of her and the room. Her eyes were red from lack of sleep, her dark brown hair was matted with dirt and her face streaked with mud and dried blood. Despite the dirt she was still classically attractive. Her green eyes were intense but her whole aspect was that of one who was totally exhausted.

  She looked directly at him, meeting his stare without fear. “I don’t know what planet we are on or where we are. They speak a language I don’t understand so I don’t know what else I can tell you.

  They haven’t tried to convert me as far as I know but I’ve no idea if they used their drugs on me as I’ve been stunned often. I have to assume that they have as should you.

  By what I’ve seen that skeleton like bony carapace is actually joined or fused to their face. I haven’t been conscious when they have been too close but from what I have seen it looks like it. How about you? How did you get here?”

  “I was on a mission to recover some of our people lost on an evac mission and got stunned when we were overrun.”

  “Welcome to wherever this is then. I’m afraid I can’t offer any hospitality. It’s a bit cold, it gets worse at night.”

  “We won’t be here long, my people will rescue us. Aren’t you cold? That dress isn’t exactly warm.”

  “That is the best news I’ve had. I have no intention of staying here any longer than I have to. Neither do I want to turn my back on two years of pilgrimage by being forced to fight them so I’m not much help. I have been colder than you can possibly imagine. You are right, this dress is pretty useless but then I didn’t exactly get a choice, they took me from a warm planet.” She gave him a tired smile.

  “You won’t need to fight when my people get here. We’ll soon get you out of here to somewhere warm.”

  “They check on us about once a day, not at any regular time. They don’t come in and if they do they stun first.”

  “My friends will get us out, don’t worry.” Without thinking he put an arm around her. She didn’t flinch although he hesitated just before he made contact. She felt like ice. “We’ll get out.”

  She looked up at him and smiled then rested her head against him. “I hope so, I really hope so.”

  The hours passed by and the light from the small window faded to dusk and then night. They spoke about many things, of Kel’s home world, of Kyla’s. They talked about happy memories, feasting, hunting and fishing. Kel kept his arm around her and tried to warm her up by rubbing her hands. As the last light faded Kel turned to Kyla. “I think we ought to try to get some sleep. I will keep watch.”

  Kyla put a hand on his arm. “If they are coming for us they will stun us so there is nothing we can do about it. I’ve been too scared to sleep properly and it feels like I haven’t slept for a lifetime.”

  Kel rolled onto a stone pallet and fell asleep. The sound of his snoring rumbled in the darkness and echoed off the walls.

  Kyla smiled to herself, the snoring was somehow reassuring and for the first time in ages she drifted off into a deep sleep despite the biting chill of the room. Kyla woke up. The room was bright as day. The light had been fixed and was on and there was no sign of Kel. The room looked the same, only a little different. She couldn’t place what was wrong with it.

  There were skeleton warriors all around her. They stood in a circle. As they stepped forwards they raised bony hands and removed their skeleton masks. The face beneath was blackness, the only feature she could see was an open mouth filled with long pointed fangs.

  As they bore down on her they ripped the flesh from her bones while she watched, unable to move. She tried to scream, she couldn’t as she was paralyzed with fear. She focused, gathered her inner calm and called on her training.

  The scream she let out was blood curdling. Kel fell off his pallet bed in his haste to get up. He leapt to Kyla’s side as she screamed in her sleep. He lifted her from the bed and shook her awake.

  In her dream Kyla had been eaten to the bone before a robed figure stepped through the parting sea of skeleton warriors. He carried robes and a mask. The mask was outstretched in his hand and he reached towards her. It went dark as the mask covered her face despite her desperate struggling. The mask fell off as the skeletons shook her then she realized they were gone. It was all gone. There was only Kel there.

  Tears rolled down her face. He wiped them away with his thumbs while cradling her head with his hands.

  Kel smiled at her as her eyes glistened with tears. “You are awake now. It was only a nightmare, only a dream.” She looked up at him and he pulled her head to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “You are not alone. Come on, lay down, you will be fine. Come on, rest now. You need the sleep. Do you want me to stay with you?”

  She rested her head on his chest, the tears running down her face and she was still shaking. “Yes.”

  They lay down together and she finally drifted off to sleep again. All night he held her, both waking occasionally, jolted into wakefulness before drifting off to sleep again.

  They woke when the light flooded through the tiny window. Kel woke first but stayed where he was as Kyla was still asleep. He lay there watching her sleeping. She awoke with a start, looked up at him and smiled.

  The guards came and went, once a day, every day for nearly two weeks. In that time Kel and Kyla had plenty of time to talk and to share experiences from the past. They laughed, they cried and they started to become friends. Every night he held her in her sleep and tried to keep her warm despite the cold. He found comfort like he never had before just having her there beside him. Her straightforward conversation with no demands on him or agenda in what she was saying was welcome and despite his surroundings he actually began to enjoy it. The guards seemed to be leaving them alone other than bringing them food and although he was still on edge he had dropped his guard a little.

  She for her part enjoyed his company and having someone she could talk to. She liked the straightforward way he saw the world and that he didn’t expect anything from her other than her company.

  Then one afternoon down the hallway a metal door swung open, grating on the uneven floor. It was unnerving as they heard it happen when normally there was silence. Marching feet stamped towards them and five Follower Skeleton Warriors stood in the dim light. Their bone faces glowing white. They did look like they were wearing masks as the bone carapace seemed to stand away from what looked like a face underneath. Their black shiny metal insect like armour reflected what little light there was. One raised a stunner, fired and both Kel and Kyla fell unconscious.

  Kel awoke in a brightly lit white tiled room. He tried to move but he was restrained with metal bands across his wrists and neck which held him down to a metal table. He wildly tried his strength against them, growling at his captor as the skin on his wrists broke with the ferocity of his attempt to escape. He looked around the room wildly in a panic, looking for Kyla. She wasn’t there. There was blood on the floor, he saw that and fought ever harder driven on by his anger.

  A small man with a bald head and very reptilian features walked cautiously across the room. “I wouldn’t struggle, those bands will hold you. You might as well relax and accept this. Do you know what this is? No of course you don’t.” He giggled. “It’s something new and you are going to be the first person to try it. This is a drug I have perfected. It will suit you perfectly. One dose of this and you will attack anyone. What do you think of that?” Kel stopped struggling and managed a smile. “I think if you take these bands off I’ll happily attack you drug or no drug.” Kel growled at the man. “No, I’m afraid that I’m not the subject. There’s no point me trying this out with someone you might want to attack. I thought it would be much more appropriate if you attacked someone you might not be so keen to take your anger out on. Like your cell mate. She is a much m
ore suitable opponent for you. I heard your conversation, of course your cell was being observed. You are a man of honour from a planet well known for its vicious fighters. She is a healer and defenseless. It couldn’t be more perfect. This will be fun to watch. You won’t have any control over yourself but she won’t know that. Just to make it even more upsetting for you we are going to chain her to the floor as well. Then we’re going to put you back in with her and you can watch her suffer with the injuries you have given her and the only medical assistance she will have will come from you. You are more than likely going to have to watch her die. What do you think about that?” “Bastard.” Kel fought the bands like he’d never struggled before, willing them to break.

  “I thought as much. Well, here we go. No point in making this difficult. Nightie night.” He picked up a stunner and fired the green beam and Kel fell back unconscious.

  Kyla came around in a concrete room. She immediately tried to stand up and found her ankle was chained to the floor. She tried to get free of it but the chains were too thick and the band on her ankle too tight to slip out of. She could vaguely see that there were people above her, high up the wall in a room behind glass panels. “Let me go, what do you want me for?” She shouted as loudly as she could but nobody answered. She stood there for what seemed like hours then she sat down again and tried to keep herself calm. She stood up again as they brought Kel’s unconscious body in and lay him on the floor the other side of the room.

  She tried to get to him, pulling at her chains and called to him but he didn’t wake up straight away. Finally she sat back down and watched him, waiting and hoping he would wake up.

  Kel woke up in that circular room. The walls were white concrete, blood stained in places. There was no visible door or escape route. The concrete went up about fifteen feet. Above him around the walls well out of reach there were glass panels and he could see faces pressed to the glass and sitting watching him in a room beyond. He noticed these first and didn’t look any further.

  Uncontrollable anger arose in him and he wanted to kill them, a wild feral feeling and the need to inflict pain on anyone in his path ran through him. He reached for his blaster, it was gone. On the floor in front of him there was a baton, about a meter long and studded with nails. He grabbed it and tried to jump to break the glass. The onlookers cheered. He could hear them clapping and commenting to each other in anticipation and they were all now on their feet trying to get the best view they could. Kel growled and howled but there was nothing he could do. He ran at the wall and tried to climb but his hands could find no purchase on the smooth stone. He tried again and again but that just made him more and more angry.

  Kyla tried to reach him but he was the other side of the room. She knew that something was wrong. He looked wild, his eyes were staring and his veins were standing out on his face. He started howling at the people behind the glass. Then she got to her feet. He had not yet noticed her. She had a few feet of movement but no further. She moved towards Kel, reaching out she put a fingers on his arm, just a touch as he got close enough. He was looking towards the windows and ranting at the onlookers after trying to climb the walls so he hadn’t seen her.

  He felt the touch of her fingers on his arm. His feelings were confused. Then a red mist seemed to come down over everything and all he could think of was that she was his enemy, she was dangerous and he had to kill her. He growled at her and balanced himself and pulled his arm back to take a swing.

  Kyla looked at him in horror. “Kel, you know me. I’m no threat to you.” In a rush of movement that seemed to happen in slow motion she looked into his wild eyes, his pupils were still dilated and his veins standing up with the strain of the extra blood pumped around his system by the drug. She knew there was something wrong with him and her body tensed immediately. Thoughts rushed through her head, trying to control herself so she didn’t look like she was going to attack in any way, calling on all of her discipline as she took a defensive stance. All she could think about was what she would lose if she failed this great test of her own resolve. She must not fight back.

  He took a swing at her, well aimed and if she had not moved with seemingly unnatural speed he would have taken her head off. She screamed at him to stop. He ignored her and hit her full force on the shoulder with the baton knocking her to the ground, her blood spilling in an ark around her. Then he leapt on her, punching before standing up and kicking her. She lay still, feeling the pain from each blow. She feigned unconsciousness, using all her calm and skill to try not to react to the pain from the blows until he stopped when he was getting no more reaction. He lifted her now limp body over his head until the chain that bound her pulled her down. He reached down, pulled with all his strength and broke the chain before swinging her around and throwing her to the edge of the room. She hit the wall with a sickening crunching sound and could feel her bones breaking. She wanted to cry out but she bit her tongue rather than do that, knowing that if he thought she was still alive the punishment would continue. Above the crowd went mad. They were standing and applauding as white gas filled the room and Kel and Kyla lapsed into unconsciousness. Kyla’s last thoughts were of the healing she pulled into herself in the hope of staying alive as she felt the life slipping away from her.

  She woke up back in the cell. As she opened her eyes her head felt like it was going to split in two. The pain she felt was unbearable and she was about to move when she caught sight of Kel sitting on a bench the other side of the room. His head was in his hands and his hair fallen down over his face. His crow feathers lay in a broken pile on the floor in front of him and he stared down at them. Seeing he wasn’t looking she tried to move but the pain was so great it made her cry out. That got Kel’s attention and he looked up at her. She froze, terrified that he was going to attack her again. He didn’t, he got up and rushed across the room to her. She tried to get away but that just caused more pain. Flashes of light nearly blinded her and she could feel the sharp rasping pain that told her that her legs were broken. She tried to move her arms but they were broken too. The pain in her back was sharp and she felt cold, everything from the neck down hurt but somehow that was reassuring. All that she could hear ringing in her ears was that horrible crunching sound as she had hit the wall. Kel crouched over her as she lay on the pallet. From the intense pain she had felt when she cried out she could feel that her jaw was broken. The sight of him looming over her took the words away.

  There were tears in the big man’s eyes. “I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t me in there, it was the drug. They drugged me, they made me hurt you.” He put a hand on her arm and the pain was terrible.

  She took a deep breath and summoned all of her strength. She was about to speak but the pain silenced her. She opened her mouth but at that point everything went black.

  The evening passed into night. Kel wanted to hold her, to keep her warm but he knew that every touch was agony for her. He sat on the pallet with her and watched her as she slept. Occasionally she would wake, wide eyed and in pain. He gently stroked her forehead and reassured her.

  The days passed by and he did what he could for her. He had no medical supplies but he fed her as gently as he could around her broken jaw and gave her water when she needed it.

  Kel heard an unfamiliar sound and looked up. He felt an excitement of hope which became intense when he saw Rennon and four Marines, armed to the teeth and just about to blast the lock off the cell bars. “Boy am I glad to see you guys.”

  Rennon smiled. “I thought you might be. We had to get you home in time for Rowland’s Court Martial. I thought you might like to give evidence about how he left you for dead on this planet.”

  “He what? That sniveling little weasel. I hope they throw the book at him.” Rennon stepped into the room and rushed over to Kyla. “Don’t worry, they will. Commander Zack will see to that. Now, let’s get you out of here and this wee lassie too. It looks like they did a real number on her. All the other cells in this block seem to be empty.”
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  Kel looked at his feet. “Be careful with her, she’s had a rough time. It was me, I did that to her. They drugged me Rennon; I had no control at all over what I was doing.”

  Rennon looked up, his brow furrowed. “Look my friend you aren’t going to like this but I’m going to have to cuff you. We have no way of knowing if you’ve been brainwashed and there is a command word to set you off. That drug is probably still in your system. When we are back to the base I’ll get a diagnostic run on you and find out. If it is then we’ll get it out of you. For now, I’d rather get us out safely than you start turning on us.”

  Kel held his hands out. “I’ll come quietly but can I carry her? You haven’t got a gurney and I’d like to. I can’t harm you if I’m carrying her. It will leave one of the marines free to fight.”

  Rennon slapped two sets of hand restraints onto him and joined them together to give him more flexibility so that he could carry Kyla. Rennon bent over her and took out a knock out shot from his belt. He broke the cap off of the needle and inserted it into her arm as she looked up at him pleadingly. He contained the fluid and watched as sleep. “That should make it easier on her if it gets a bit rough on the way back.” He then lifted her gently into Kel’s arms. Kel looked down at her blood stained dress, her pale face streaked with the blood from the many deep cuts he had inflicted on her. He took a deep breath and followed the others.

  They were met by five skeleton faced armoured warriors coming down the corridor. The marines fired and before the assailants could get a shot off they were on the floor. They were slow and no match for Rennon and the marines. The crew stepped over them and continued squeezed the rubber ball which she drifted back into a painless down the corridor to the now open door. Outside they encountered another twenty warriors who died in the same way. They were passing a door and Kel caught a glimpse through the glass window. “Rennon, stop a minute. This is the lab; this is where he’s making the drug.”